Delicate Arch sunset with storm

I’ve visited Arches National Park more times than I can count on my fingers. I can’t say without going through photos if it’s been more if I include my toes, but nevertheless as many times as I’ve been there I’ve never witnessed a really wicked storm. If you sat at Delicate Arch everyday for years, chances are you’d never see the type of storm in this picture. I hadn’t thought about that much until I saw a picture of the Statue of Liberty with hurricane Sandy looming over head. Those kinds of shots are amazing.

Even on the plains of Eastern Colorado, catching a shot of a really big and unusual Thunderhead takes some weather watching. There are of course big storms every summer, but to get good shots you need to be in a good location. I have way more shots with trees and power poles than truly clean images. Even the cloud I used had houses blocking the horizon, so that had to be reconstructed. I also added the lightning because that also takes patience. Without the digital frame, this is just a three layer picture, so it wasn’t hard to composite. However, getting the clouds like I wanted them took a good hour of dodging and burning, plus some blending and smudging. I’m not sure if I’m done with the manipulation, but this is rendition one. I’m looking for feedback, so chime in.